Re: VR Advertisements

Virtual Reality is a great advancement of technology that will be with us for some time. Once we grasp it and have it with us for a short time, it will give birth to something even more profound.

I think advertising of all sorts can do well with VR, not just the easy to think about, like auto or home sales. My hope would be that ads for VR will embrace the technology and stretch it to the core so that we don't slap a text or banner ad in the corner and call it advertising.

For a total VR experience, I think cooperation will be required so that there are many products included within the environment. You create a virtual city where you can... walk down the road and pick up various products, like a coke can, that will take you to that factory for a tour. In the VR environment, there would be many products that all had a part of the cost and creation experience so that product placement was natural and fluid to what the activity was.

We go the VR beach and there is a scuba lessons stand by PADI, and a booth for Coppertone that presents those products, lessons, tips, factory tours... and a way to purchase the actual products. Apply this thinking to any product, place or service provider.

A Tampa-themed adventure would cover things to do with visiting Tampa, Florida (business tours with coupons you send to your actual email account, tours down roads where certain business, the ones that paid, are highlighted and you could walk in and explore). Expand on this idea and if it is a clothing store, each brand sold could split the cost and be involved: Levis, Kenneth Cole, Guy Harvey, Nike, Guess, J.Crew, Calvin Kline, Polo, etc..

The possibilities go on and on and could be quite expansive. I have spent some time in the study of future technology (VR, AI, etc.) and my mind is filled with visions of what could be done.

It will be a disruptive technology once it matures a little more. Nothing else can provide such a rich & robust engagement. VR is Impactful and Immersive to the core and will allows advertisers to present a brand in a very memorable way. In just a few minutes, a brand could be presented to a VR user dozens of times and in dozens of ways so that it taps into different parts of the brain and really sticks!

For any advertisers heavily involved with video ads... they should be heavily involved with VR ads, too.

Re: VR Advertisements

VR advertisements seems like a small market at the moment due to the high entry cost for consumers. That being said, those with higher incomes and interest in the technology will likely be the early adopters. I think J Clemens is right about the auto industry and realty, those are both high value markets that can be very competitive.

I think VR advertising can go beyond these areas though. You have to think that traditional advertising, such as billboards, product placement, and commercials will eventually be integrated into VR. I wouldn't be surprised if people started seeing soda, food, and other micro-moments appearing in their VR sessions.

My question would be how will consumer information be used and protected in this new environment?

other 360 content is interesting but like others have said there isn't a crazy amount of content out just yet.

Your point about the virtual test drive and inside view of the car was very good. I could easily see this being utilized. I feel like it will help potential customers get a better idea of the size and space they have inside the vehicle, and for test drive it will give a better idea of driving visibility.

With the interface on the Oculus, you start in a home setting / lounge type area, this is how you navigate to everything like games and media. The content and menu just sort of floats in front of you, you look at something and select it using the controller. I personally saw loads of potential for advertising here, the future of display ads. There can easily be some sponsored widgets and product placement as well. There is a bar in the main home / lounge area, a beverage company could pay to have a couple bottles displayed on the counter, etc.. Its going to be exciting to see how companies start to take advantage of this.

on a side note if anyone has any 360 content they found interesting or want to test our let me know!

After doing a little research, my first thought is that the equipment to record these videos is somewhat expensive. The 360fly HD camera, which I would consider as entry level, starts at $400 and some of the GoPro Omni's go to around $5,000. I am going to have a hard time justifying this purchase to my managers, let alone my wife. If anyone has produced some of these videos, I would love to see them.

Re: VR Advertisements

Its the Rico Theta and so far its the cheapest option I've seen for 360 camera. Like you said the GoPro options get expensive, but i think we will be getting a GoPro Omni set up in the near future *fingers crossed*

We have a bunch of videos from our NADA booth this year. Ill try to get them off my video editor and upload them so you can see. If I'm able to get ahold of the videos ill comment on this article with a link to the files. The quality was actually pretty good, not the best but its also pretty inexpensive so not complaining.